Ep.333: HI State Senator Will Espero

Ep.333: HI State Senator Will Espero

Hawaii State Senator Will Espero joins us and shares that in 2000, Hawaii became the first legislature in the nation to pass legal medical cannabis. Since then, though it’s been slow going. There have been obstacles and roadblocks. Will was the lead Senator on the dispensary bill which finally passed in 2015. The dispensaries are now up and running. And go figure, the sky has not fallen. That said, the system is somewhat conservative. Law Enforcement desired to not have paraphernalia sold inside dispensaries, and so it’s not. Specific felonies have been introduced for dispensary owners regarding cannabis diversion. That said, reciprocity is on the table and Will is interested in developing the hemp market in Hawaii.

Transcript:

Speaker 2: state Senator Will Espero Hawaii state Senator Willow Sparrow joins us and shares that in 2000 Hawaii became the first legislature in the nation to pass legal medical cannabis. Since then, though, it's been slow going. There have been obstacles and roadblocks. Will was the lead senator on the dispensary bill, which finally passed in 2015, the dispensary's. You're now up and running and go figure. The Sky has not fallen. That said, the system is somewhat conservative. Law enforcement desire to not have paraphernalia sold inside dispensary's and so it's not specific. Felonies have been introduced for dispensary owners regarding cannabis diversion. That said reciprocity is on the table and we'll is interested in developing the hemp market in Hawaii. Welcome to cannabis economy. I'm your host Seth Adler. Check us out on social with the hand mechanic economy. That's two ends of the word economy. State senator will aspero most of the time when people come to Hawaii. Yeah,

Speaker 1: they're looking for sunshine and some time at the beach, so I feel sorry for them when they come here and it's rainy and overcast, although usually the rain comes and goes within a day or two, so I believe tomorrow we may have some sunshine. Okay. But it does rain. I think this is the island with the most strain, which is why it's called the garden aisle and it's sold lush and beautiful. So obviously the rain has a purpose. Yeah, no, absolutely. It's still looks beautiful all given, uh, you know, given its, uh, its drawbacks, you know, um, which, which I appreciate. State senator will aspero am I pronouncing that correct? That's correct. All right, now you are one of these people that we can depend on as far as cannabis is concerned. Yes. Uh, in Hawaii, it's taken us awhile to get to the point where we are, however it's moving now that our dispensary's are up and running.

Speaker 1: Yes, they are. FYI, in 2000 we were the first legislature in the nation to pass medical cannabis, the first in the nation. However, since that we hadn't done a whole lot. There'd been some obstacles and roadblocks. It wasn't until 2015 that we finally passed the dispensary bill that I was the lead senator on that bill and now that we have a few up and running, hopefully by next year all of them will be up and running and everyone will see that it's working as planned, that society has not ruined itself and that there is a huge benefit for our patients to have medical cannabis available to them. Certainly. And we want to kind of get an, a Hawaii one. Oh, one cannabis. A Hawaii from you, but let's jump in on that. Twenty 15 bill. How did you come to be the sponsor of the bill and what was in it?

Speaker 1: I wasn't the main sponsor on this bill. This was a house bill. It was a house bill, but I was the chairman back then of the public safety intergovernmental and military affairs committee. And I'm the Narcotics Enforcement Division came under my per view, which is why I was, uh, the, uh, second chair on that actually replaced the right time type. Right. But what happened? Uh, that's an interesting story because the bill died. Okay. The bill died in 2015 and we had to resign from the dad and, and that, that point is when I took over the lead in the Senate. Great. And we ended up passing it and it allowed the dispensary system, which we now have in place to begin selling in July of 2016, which almost happened almost. Yeah, we were, uh, about a year off. Thank goodness we've got some up and running now. And better late than never a true a use of that term.

Speaker 2: state Senator Will Espero Hawaii state Senator Willow Sparrow joins us and shares that in 2000 Hawaii became the first legislature in the nation to pass legal medical cannabis. Since then, though, it's been slow going. There have been obstacles and roadblocks. Will was the lead senator on the dispensary bill, which finally passed in 2015, the dispensary's. You're now up and running and go figure. The Sky has not fallen. That said, the system is somewhat conservative. Law enforcement desire to not have paraphernalia sold inside dispensary's and so it's not specific. Felonies have been introduced for dispensary owners regarding cannabis diversion. That said reciprocity is on the table and we'll is interested in developing the hemp market in Hawaii. Welcome to cannabis economy. I'm your host Seth Adler. Check us out on social with the hand mechanic economy. That's two ends of the word economy. State senator will aspero most of the time when people come to Hawaii. Yeah,

Speaker 1: they're looking for sunshine and some time at the beach, so I feel sorry for them when they come here and it's rainy and overcast, although usually the rain comes and goes within a day or two, so I believe tomorrow we may have some sunshine. Okay. But it does rain. I think this is the island with the most strain, which is why it's called the garden aisle and it's sold lush and beautiful. So obviously the rain has a purpose. Yeah, no, absolutely. It's still looks beautiful all given, uh, you know, given its, uh, its drawbacks, you know, um, which, which I appreciate. State senator will aspero am I pronouncing that correct? That's correct. All right, now you are one of these people that we can depend on as far as cannabis is concerned. Yes. Uh, in Hawaii, it's taken us awhile to get to the point where we are, however it's moving now that our dispensary's are up and running.

Speaker 1: Yes, they are. FYI, in 2000 we were the first legislature in the nation to pass medical cannabis, the first in the nation. However, since that we hadn't done a whole lot. There'd been some obstacles and roadblocks. It wasn't until 2015 that we finally passed the dispensary bill that I was the lead senator on that bill and now that we have a few up and running, hopefully by next year all of them will be up and running and everyone will see that it's working as planned, that society has not ruined itself and that there is a huge benefit for our patients to have medical cannabis available to them. Certainly. And we want to kind of get an, a Hawaii one. Oh, one cannabis. A Hawaii from you, but let's jump in on that. Twenty 15 bill. How did you come to be the sponsor of the bill and what was in it?

Speaker 1: I wasn't the main sponsor on this bill. This was a house bill. It was a house bill, but I was the chairman back then of the public safety intergovernmental and military affairs committee. And I'm the Narcotics Enforcement Division came under my per view, which is why I was, uh, the, uh, second chair on that actually replaced the right time type. Right. But what happened? Uh, that's an interesting story because the bill died. Okay. The bill died in 2015 and we had to resign from the dad and, and that, that point is when I took over the lead in the Senate. Great. And we ended up passing it and it allowed the dispensary system, which we now have in place to begin selling in July of 2016, which almost happened almost. Yeah, we were, uh, about a year off. Thank goodness we've got some up and running now. And better late than never a true a use of that term.

Speaker 1: Right, exactly where we're on our way. They, at least they couldn't say that it was because of our deadlines. It was really just the industry industry was not able to get up and running and we're, we're going to go through, you know, there's, there's a kind of a conservative bent on, on many of your regulations and we might be getting some music here, but we'll find out why, why did it die, you know, and, and how was it resuscitated? Let's start there and then work our way. We'll as far as the 2015 bill, the bill had made it to conference, which means it's at the very end of session and we have a house version and we have a Senate version. And in conference you work on those calm on the um, on a compromise. Yeah, give and take on both sides. You come up with a bill.

Speaker 1: And what had happened was, um, the lead senator who was working with a lead in the house, um, they just weren't coming up with a solution and there was a point in time where the house lead said I've had enough. Boom, we're done. Got It. And almost a personal thing. It doesn't even sound like policy. Exactly. And, and that really shocked our lead senator because he, he thought, to be honest with you, he had an one more hour to negotiate. It was coming that down to the wire. But she said I've had enough. And she basically walked away. And then we had, um, I was at that time, the vice president of the Senate as well. And we, we talked and we put together a plan and said, okay, if we can do this, this, this, and this, then we could go back to the speaker of the house and see if he'd be willing to reopen, which is what he did and what we did.

Speaker 1: And we were able to pass a bill without getting too far into the weeds. I wonder what this, this, this, and this was what turned them back on. Well, they had to see that we had the votes for starters and that we weren't going to reopen it if it was just going to be more discussion. We had to show them that we had the votes, this is what we were willing to do and that we will do it. And part of that was we did change out the chairman of the, um, conference committee, uh, which, and I became the lead so that. And we got it through Rutherford. Okay. So actually working with other people, no matter what their political stripes are by. But in this case we're, most of us are Democrats in the legislature. Doesn't even matter anymore. Does it take that? Actually brings me to my next point here, which are, um, smokeless.

Speaker 1: Okay, so we've got flour that is on the shelves, but we are not allowed to sell paraphernalia and which you can smoke that flower with. Correct. You can't sell paraphernalia in the dispensary and the dispensary itself, you have to go to a shop outside and that's what everybody does. And vape and smoke are all in the same ball of wax. Take us through why that decision, you know, why we're doing it that way in Hawaii right now. Well, it's just that, that conservative side, as you mentioned, uh, the law enforcement, I mean they were one of the biggest opponents and obstacles to moving the medical marijuana program forward. And ironically, one of the opponents who was in charge of the North Cottage Enforcement Division, uh, ironically he is now, I think one of the head security guy. So I wanted to dispensary's interesting talk about hypocrisy and action and deed, but I've got plenty of examples if you're wondering.

Speaker 1: Right? Yes. And, and uh, so it's just the, you know, the, the way it is that, you know, we have to move it slowly but surely and that compromise, uh, is, is where we are in terms of now we're having that discussion on smoking versus vaping for example. And, and education is part of this because unless you have a governor, for example, who's a 100 percent behind you, um, they're going to take it slow. And as your governor, how would, what percentage would you put? Well, on a one to 10? I'd give him a five. Okay. I mean because there's a lot of criticism about our department of Health that's in charge of this and, and they report to him. Sure. So although he's not an expert on it and he's not a strong proponent, nor is he a strong opponent, it's still happening under his watch and there are criticisms and there are certainly ways we can do things better.

Speaker 1: And we do have an election next year for governorship as well. So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. Are there any interesting candidates that are coming out? Uh, you know, the governor up for reelection or gaseous is up for reelection. I don't know where he stands on legalization. I know his opponent has stated privately. She supports adult use. Oh Wow. That's the Republican. No, no, no. This is going to have a primary, a current congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard know Coleen Honda Bussa. Oh, okay. I haven't heard her say she's for adult use, but some people have told me that she is, but I mean that'll come out as the election go into campaign moves on, which gets us back to where we are now, which is that you have brand new felonies which are, uh, which are available, uh, to uh, I guess dispensary's that do wrong. Can you take us through what's going on there?

Speaker 1: This is something new. I haven't heard that from another state. You're talking about the hand gun, the guns. No guns. MMJ laws also created new felonies for unauthorized possession of dispensary, cannabis and diversion of dispensary product. Well, I mean that's just, that's, that's to me, that's just boiler plate standard saying that dispensary, you have to follow the rules and laws just like any other, you know, a pharmacy, a liquor establishment, whatever. As far as diversion is concerned, you're almost conservative there. I'm a, I'm actually there with you, you know, we can't have diversion. That's the, what would take legal cannabis industry down. Exactly. Yeah. And, and we're just in the losses that you follow the laws or you're breaking the law and it's a felony, right? I mean, that's, that's any business now, right now, selling cigarettes, selling alcohol, you know, you don't want to give that stuff to minors, although a diversion is a little different when you're talking about minors and adults. Sure, sure. All right. So, so then, uh, next up I guess would be, and thank you so much for answering all of these questions. You know, I told you I was looking for one on one and you're certainly giving it to us. Sure. Um, you know, as far as the,

Speaker 4: uh,

Speaker 1: the state versus local

Speaker 4: kind of, um, uh, uh,

Speaker 1: right, yeah. You mentioned that one of the questions you may be not supportive of that, so you will take to tell us through what it is first. And then I think the issue was, uh, we passed the bill at the statewide level. Indeed. So Hawaii is a small state and um, where island counties. Uh, but uh, we wanted to have a law in place for everyone, right. And State Law Supersedes County law or city law. We don't have city jurisdictions. Aha. Okay. So you, you need to understand that and that might help shape. It does, it does help because if there is no city or jurisdiction then there is no governing body to rule. And so then state law would certainly supersede local, you know, and, and it would have to be that way I guess. Right. However, we have county jurisdiction. Okay. So you have a Maui county, you have a coal, why he county and you have the big island and a wall.

Speaker 1: So you have the four main counties only for. Yeah, exactly. Gotcha. So, um, we didn't want to have the counties, uh, be able to block our stateless because this, we're looking at this purely and strictly from the point of view with healthcare. Sure. This is a healthcare issue. Sure. Uh, this is an issue where you have patients who need relief, who need help and we wanted to pass state law because this should not be a county by county issue. This should not be a home rule issue, like, like a zoning where you want to put a hotel or where you want to build houses or where do you want to put a road. But this is for the overall welfare of our residents and those who need help, you know, if you are a cancer patient or if you, a, you know, a multiple sclerosis or whatever the case may be. We've got to have the same rules overall rise to work. And my only point was there, I'm newly, you know, I, I come from the left, I tried to be in the middle. I say that all the time and I'm newly

Speaker 2: a fan of states' rights for obvious reasons. And so as it goes down into the localities, I want, you know, I, I can see how we would be open minded or maybe should be open minded to the county's making their own decisions. I like that idea when we're talking about the state of California for instance, if they don't want it, they don't want it. Let's let them have or not have it for instance, you know, um, but it sounds like it's a different kind of a feeling here, uh, in the state of Hawaii.

Speaker 1: Well, even when you consider we're so small and then, you know, it would be difficult to have when it comes to health care and medicine, a different types of laws. Tell me about think obamacare proves that doesn't exactly.

Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Which we don't have enough time to get into that. You and I can talk about that, you know, in about 20 minutes. In the meantime, we need to know how we have the pleasure of a state senator will sparrow. In other words, when did you realize that maybe a public office was a, a good idea

Speaker 1: for you? While I have a degree in business, okay, a Seattle University at, I expected to be a businessman, you know, a CEO, a president or whatever the case may be. Sure. But, um, you know, in my younger adult life, you know, when I was married back then and I had kids and I got really involved in the community in the neighborhood and making the place a better world for everybody. That's when people were talking to me and starts saying, hey, maybe you should be in office. Maybe you know, we like what you're doing. We like what you're saying. And then, uh, uh, helping in the legislative process and in government might be a good place for you. So I was fortunate enough to get a job with mayor flossy, mayor of Honolulu City and county of Honolulu. That was my first government job. And then from there, that's how really I got pretty active and involved now.

Speaker 1: How, how far back was this? Was this magnum Pi days? Yes. We're looking at A. I worked for the mayor from 87 to 94. Okay. So just at the end of Magnum Pi guys. Right, right. I show, I certainly watched. Well he, yeah, my, my, I had some friends who were extras and that was during that time. Exactly. There you go. Alright. So did you or are you born and raised here in? My father was in the navy, so my parents are from the Philippines. I was born in Japan and I lived around the world, the navy life. Uh, uh, Washington, California, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Cuba, and Italy. Why Cuba? Was that one time before it was famous?

Speaker 2: Yeah, sure. That was more of what was that, a few good men? It was featured in. Right, exactly. Uh, so it turns out that you can handle the truth, which is nice. What was Cuba like? What years were you there?

Speaker 1: Well, I was, uh, I think like around first grade. Okay. So like seven. That's where I learned to swim. Okay. And um, it was basically a military base. God, unless you really, did you learn to swim in the Bay of Pigs? I mean, possible. It wasn't the Bay of Pigs, but it was our own swimming hall. Gotcha. And uh, you know, we really didn't mingle with the, with the local people because we were confined to the base area more. I remember though like you could go to the border and look out to the demilitarized zone and they'd be watching us and we'd be watching them. So there'd be times we lived up on a hill and you know, the military guys, they'd be information going on for their war games and coming back. But, you know, to me that was the standard because that's what life was that part of being a navy dependent.

Speaker 1: So thank you to your father for his service. What was part of life, you mentioned it now, looking back on it, do you have further thoughts? And we're here at the ICBC said so a little bit noisy and we can hear some folks, which is great. Um, but do you have kind of additional thoughts on, you know, what that was when you were a kid at the, at the time it was normal. It was regular. That's what it was, right? While living in Hawaii now for the last 35 years, many people here were born and raised here and they have friends from, from tiny to adulthood. Yeah. See, I don't have that connection. Although with the Internet, um, you know, I, I'm in touch with people from high school and some of those even in elementary school, but uh, you know, there's pluses and minuses.

Speaker 1: Uh, I got to see the world when I was younger. Absolutely saw places, went to places and experience things that people living on an island or anywhere that don't move around, which, you know, you don't get that experience and knowledge. So from that perspective, uh, it was a good life. And uh, you know, my son is a captain in the Marine Corps now look at that, thank him for his service. And we did, we skip a generation, did not join because navy the marines, but we skipped one. Well, my brother spent four years in the army. How come you did not? I guess? Well, they are in military service. Sure. I'm in political public service, so what I'm doing is the same but different name. But yeah, exactly. I don't carry around a gun, carry around your mind and then I guess brings me to, you know, we're in an interesting time and global politics, you know, when I was growing up it was, you know, when I was a kid in the eighties, it was the Cold War and there were defined lines. You were either American or you a warrant, you know, you, it was a, we were the good guys and those were the bad guys and that was that. It's turned around here and it's totally different.

Speaker 2: What are your thoughts? You are an elected official. What are your thoughts on just, you know, global politics and how it relates to American politics and how that relates to what you need to do at your state level?

Speaker 1: Well, let me state that President Obama was from Hawaii. Sure. Born and raised here and we were very proud of him and his stature in the world. And, and many of us feel now that, uh, what we have going on in Washington DC, I'm a, is a drop. It's a big disappointment. And you know, it's democracy at work, I guess. Sure, but you know it, it's sad and disappointing that what we're hearing out of Washington DC is, is actually being said, right. I mean it's shocking sometimes when you hear and see what's going on.

Speaker 2: Yeah, and, and you're, you're so there. I am trying to, as much as I can separate rhetoric from policy and you know, the, the issue, you're speaking of his rhetoric, which is amazing in many ways. Setting that aside for a second. Okay. We are here just to, you know, podcast land knows no time, but we are here the day after the Senate did pass the tax bill and now they're going to go into conference, which you described that the state level early to me, I don't understand what this bill is. I find myself being a fiscal conservative, I find myself kind of paying attention to the debt and the deficit. I find myself understanding that Americans are hurting as far as you know, their tax. I understand that we have an interesting, a global competitive climate as far as corporate tax. Having said that, all that I see in this bill is blowing a hole through the deficit. Simply to benefit one community, which is, you know, a very wealthy community. We, there are reports that the, um, you know, a poor and middle class are going to get just a tiny drop ship on a short term basis and then their taxes go up over the next 10 years. You deal with Republicans. I all be it. Not a lot of them. What are these guys doing at the federal level? It doesn't make any sense as far as Americans are concerned or America is concerned in terms of its economy.

Speaker 1: You're absolutely correct. And sometimes government or government officials don't act in a common sense way. So many people are scratching their heads because the way you just explained is absolutely correct. This legislation looks like it's for the very rich and that the working class middle class are gonna end up paying for it one way or the other. Uh, what, what is your sense has public engagement in, um, you know, what you're doing, has public interest increased in, in what you're doing on a day to day basis? Do you have more calls and you used or do you have more emails? And you used to know, I think it's pretty much the same, although interesting. What I've seen though is more activism out there outside. Okay. Yeah. Not to you, but out there, right. You know, you've got the, the women's March, you've got the resist, you've got people coming out and expressing themselves one way or the other.

Speaker 1: Uh, you know, it could be just the rally, it could be an event during lunchtime, but, but people are expressing themselves. And then of course, um, I mean I get a, a number of emails and calls my um, I, I wouldn't say nothing has really increased, but people are more aware of what's going on out there just because I'm aware that they're there. Shaw engagement. Not necessarily, but aware. Awareness is. Let me ask you this, as you are an elected official, right? You know that 50 percent of the United States did not vote for president 50. And again these are 50 plus. These are rough averages. I was just gonna say, so 50 percent didn't vote. Twenty five percent voted for her. Twenty five percent voted for him. That's not 100 percent accurate, but that's basically it. I'm looking for newly, you know, uh, interested parties, folks that have not voted before to engage themselves in elected office.

Speaker 1: What would your advice be to somebody that is kind of coming out of left field, quite, uh, quite literally into the political sphere? Well, here in Hawaii, I tell people all the time that you need to be engaged because, um, if you look at just the cost of living, for example, you know, things aren't going to be getting any cheaper and the quality of life is going to be dictated by the cost of food, the cost of housing, you know, the cost of energy and, and this is gonna impact you directly, 100 percent guaranteed, no doubt about it, no one else do it for yourself, type of thing, right? And you need to listen to what myself and others are out there saying, oh, and see whether you like it or you don't. You don't. You better find somebody who supports you because this could be the difference of whether you're going to live here in Hawaii.

Speaker 1: Are you going to have to move away? So cost of living is kind of going through the roof. Here's what about becoming a state of haves and have not and just like every other state exactly, but us more so because of our location in the middle of the Pacific and it's not that easy to come and go here. The people with wealth and means will always be able to come and go, but a working class, the low income, the poor, they're the ones that are struggling and having a difficult time and people need to be engaged. If you want to have a better life just at a local level as far as your desk is concerned, what are things that you're working on to kind of combat that? Well, we're, I'm the housing chairman right now. So this is right in your wheel house. Yeah, exactly. Um, we're dealing with a homeless issues, building more affordable housing or um, uh, you know, we're working on food sustainability now.

Speaker 1: We have a goal of 100 percent, um, alternative energy by 20, 45. So we're working on a lot of areas and of course to diversify our economy and our, um, our job opportunities. Cannabis helps, doesn't it? Well, agriculture. Exactly. Yes. Definitely. And you, you mentioned, you know, Israel is kind of pulling away here, but you want to be Israel Times, what did you say? Times 100. You know, Hawaii, we're a leader in many areas. Uh, astronomy. Okay. We're the premier best place for looking at the stars. Uh, we've got the largest telescopes in the world. I'm a surfing where we're the premier place for surfing, tourism, you know, we're one of them. So, so we're a leader in many areas and from my perspective, I mean, and in the heyday when we were going pineapple and sugarcane in Hawaii was built on agriculture and especially the sugarcane and pineapple.

Speaker 1: Is there another crop that could bring us those glory days? In my opinion? Yes. And that could be hemp and cannabis. There you go. And it's low capital. We have the land and it can enhance tourism, as I mentioned earlier around cannabis tourism, potentially nine, 10 million, uh, tourists come here. And then if we could do more with research and development on medical side and, and hemp products. Imagine a hemp biofuel. Yeah. Henry Ford wanted to build a car out of him and he wanted to use him as a biofuel. But those greedy industrialist killed the whole cannabis industry purely, purely out of greed and nothing else. So let's just end, I guess on a, on a, on a higher note, on a lighter note. As far as reciprocity, we're going to be considering this in 2018, you know, you're an insider so to speak. Well, where are we with the feasibility and possibility of that?

Speaker 1: Well, this is one of those areas where I was mentioning we need to get the right people in leadership to get things done. So go and uh, the Department of Health on this issue is probably not going to be ready for anything come January. Okay. Well they need to get a kick in the ass and we need to get them moving on it. I'm a, I'm probably going to look at some legislation on reciprocity a, but maybe a little further into the year. Well no, January is, but they will be ready and they're not going to be right. Yeah. But the law allows them to have reciprocity in January if they want it, but we're not because they don't have it. They don't have a plan. Exactly. So you'll get the legislation in and hopefully it'll, it'll pass and then if it doesn't then it, we'd have to wait for Doh to do it or will we wait till next year?

Speaker 1: So we got to get that passed. We need to push them and push down the end and I and others will be doing that. And will we? Thank you. Right. So I've got the three final questions for you. I'll tell you what they are and I'll ask you them in order. What's most surprised you in cannabis? What's most surprised you in life and on the soundtrack of your life? One track, one song that's got to be on there. First things first though, you. You've been talking about the cannabis plant. What's most surprised you in cannabis? Whether it be industry, whether it be the plant itself, whether it be the medicine. What surprised me the most is the actually the, the interest of so many people.

Speaker 1: I think people realize that we've come full circle from legal to ban tobacco, been legal, right? That the pendulum is moving parole. The polls are saying pro and there's gonna be a lot of opportunities and a lot of money made. And it's interesting to see now everybody, literally everybody is interested in, which is not surprising. It is surprising and it's not surprising and it is again and again. Right. You know what I mean? It's the green gold rush and it's going to be happening. Sure. What's most surprised you in life, sir? What surprised me most in life? That's a good question. Um, well, you know, just the, I guess the resiliency of people. Indeed. Yeah. I mean, you know, you can go from the

Speaker 5: being a,

Speaker 1: the very bottom being a rug and in the dirt to being the king of the world.

Speaker 5: Uh, and uh,

Speaker 1: yeah, you know, the resiliency of people and, and people's ability to, to overcome because he knows some terrible, terrible things that they all go through or some go through. Yeah. Life Sucks sometimes and it's picking yourself back up and just keep on walking. That's the key. Just take it day by day to day. Sun Sunrise, the sunrise, the sunrise, the sunrise. He says, I like it. Yeah. All right. So on the soundtrack of your life, one track, one song that's got to be on there,

Speaker 1: would it be a don Ho favorite? I liked to sing karaoke. Oh, okay. Yeah. Um, so a couple of songs. I like to sing my way. Oh sure. Frank Sinatra and the impossible dream. Okay. Dream the impossible dream. And who, who's the artist on that? If I. well there's, there's um, uh, to dream and I, by the way you will, will, will, will, will look it up. But uh, you pronounce carry. Okay. Correctly because you of course spent time in Japan, right? Caught. Okay. Yeah. And there's a lot of it in Hawaii. Okay. Yeah, I've made, maybe not in quite, but in Honolulu we got a and I've got my own in house system as well. I see. All right. So then let's invite some folks over. We'll go play six, zero k somewhere. I don't. Yeah, I'm sure there's somewhere we can see senator spiral. Thank you so much. Thank you seth. I certainly appreciate it. Hello. And there you have state senator. Will Sparrow target him there at the end? He's onto it. And so, um, I look forward to a more of those conversations coming up in ensuing episodes. Very much appreciate the state senators time. Obviously somebody that cares about the people, appreciate his time. Appreciate Yours. Stay tuned.

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